I CHOO CHOO CHOOSE YOU

A long time coming for a blog update. I’m not sure whether it’s that I’ve had nothing to say or just haven’t been motivated to say it. Regardless, someone has convinced me to start a private journal, and this stuff is the first of its offspring.

I’ve been thinking about what has brought me to where I am and the paths I’ve taken to get here. All the tiny little moments, coincidences, and people that have propelled me through this crazy roller coaster ride that will end up being known as My Life.

Looking at the wide world of choices... it never ends. When I was 18 I woulda figured that by this age I'd either have had everything worked out or I'd be dead. As it turns out neither option panned out. These days my best advice to myself is to do what I love the most, to the best of my ability to do so. Sometimes your own idiocy places you into a position where it seems like you have no options. But I've stopped believing that. There's always some way to make whatever situation you find yourself in into a place you want to be. I've even managed to do this in packed cattle-like commuter trains in Tokyo, or holding the hand of a friend lying in a hospital bed in incredible pain.

I made a lot of mistakes because I half-believed those who said I couldn't ever accomplish the things I truly wanted to do. I majored in chemical engineering in college not because I liked it that much, but because I believed those who told me I had to choose a major to hang a hat on for the rest of my life. Better late than never, but I’ve come to be proud of my choices. From leaving engineering and becoming a teacher, to moving to Japan instead of teaching high school, to moving to Spain without a job, to returning to Japan although everyone said “You can never go back.”, to moving to the UK for a girl…they've all brought me to a place in this world that I never dreamed I would be in. Self-five.

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” --- Eleanor Roosevelt